Saturday, June 14, 2008

In-Progress At Michigan: Craftsman Trucks On SPEED

Racing will return to MIS on Saturday afternoon as the Craftsman Truck Series takes to the big superspeedway.

Krista Voda will kick things off with The Set-Up pre-race show at 2:30PM for thirty minutes. Both pit reporters, Ray Dunlap and Adam Alexander, will join her.

It will be Michael Waltrip returning to the announce booth at MIS to provide analysis of the event alongside Phil Parsons. Veteran play-by-play announcer Rick Allen will call the action.

The Truck races on SPEED usually generate very few comments because the production has been solid now for several seasons. This is a SPEED crew and the results of their dedication can be seen easily by viewers. This series has a feel all to itself, and the racing coverage is simple and effective.

Michael Waltrip is returning to a team of announcers who have worked without him recently, and did an outstanding job. Waltrip's presence changes the on-air dynamic of the race because of his enthusiasm and personality. While some viewers prefer the laid-back style of Phil Parsons, others feel just as strongly that Waltrip's excitement adds a nice touch to the team.

This post will serve to host your comments about the Craftsman Truck coverage on SPEED. To add your TV-related opinion, just click on the COMMENTS button below and follow the easy instructions. The rules for posting are located on the right side of the main page. Thanks again for taking the time to stop by.

Perhaps they are just thrown off after working without Mikey for 2 races. I am one of those who likes him in the booth. I know there are some who say it's all Toyota all the time but I remember thinking last year he was all Chevy all the time, I think it's more about who is racing (I mean racing not driving).

great finish all the way from first to fifth. scott speed continues to be a refreshing interview. hornaday and the harvicks "discussing" the move by the #51 was a classic nascar moment. sounds like young mr busch is seriously antagonizing the rest of the field in whatever series he runs. hornaday finally says what a lot of us are thinking: is joe gibbs ok with this behavior?

let's see if hornaday is penalized in any way for going to the hauler to "talk" with busch. or if busch is called in for a talk at the trailer for his on-track actions. my vote? leave them both alone -- it's racing. let hornaday settle it on the track (as he appears intent on doing!)

I so agree with Hornaday's comments but worry he will be hauled into the hauler with his comment that if Gibbs doesn't talk to Shrub about his behavior he may have to teach him a lesson himself and hope he doesn't hurt in while doing it. Yikes.

But yougotta admit, KYLE B is honking off a lot of drivers with his arrogance. where's an old school driver when you need one. It makes me SICK to have to watch him in all three series. So aggressive to win he cares not a bit about who he wrecks...the guys in the truck series are hungry and don't make the major bucks Cup drivers do...somebody needs to put the breaks on KyB.

Sophia - If you look at the winnings of the Truck series vs the Cup series, you'll be shocked ... About the ONLY Truck series driver that wins $1 Mil is the series champion ... compared to everyone in the Cup series that runs / attempts the whole season gets well over that much ...

I think NASCAR will leave Hornaday alone ... and many drivers will thank him for saying what they've held their tongues on ... Hornaday is a 3-time Truck series champ & the winningest Truck series driver and that gives him all kinds of rights to tell it like it is ...

Balance might have been "off" a bit. But no more so than some cup races I have seen and a lot of nationwide races in the past. But then again, I like mikey in the booth. I know he's a shill and think it's funny. To me, his personality and driver insights more than make up for it.

[RANT]

I'm not normally a Hornaday fan, because I dislike Harvick and his awful attitude. But in this case I' all for it. It's one thing to "play" the bad guy because the fans are pissed at you. It's another thing to drive like an a$$hat and then blame everyone but yourself like an arrogant snob.

To relate my dislike of Kyle Busch to a "Nascar Media" subject, what is up with those sunglasses? I realize that these guys have sunglasses sponsors just like everything else. And I realize that some of them have crappy taste in fashion. But would it be too much work to take off your damn glasses when you are being interviewed? ESPECIALLY when you are standing in the garage?

ahhh, photojosh! my favorite piss 'n moan: drivers not removing their sunglasses while being interviewed. everyone please note: i did NOT bring it up this time -- altho' i noted it with great distaste!nascar or espn or speed or fox or their mothers (!) need to drop the hammer on this one and soon. it may seem like a trivial matter but it is disrespectful to us as fans and should not be permitted to continue. as far as i can tell, it started with richard petty and as much as i respect everything he's done for our sport, this is one really obnoxious trend he started.

JD - I just watched the race this morning on my DVR. I'm so glad I didn't find out who won. what a great finish. so close to call. having read everyone's posts.I thought it was cool that jack roush did the fly over and that was awesome that a camera was inside his plane. I thought the crew was off a little bit as well, but who cares with a finish like that. the finish for 3rd was great too and SPEED did a great job of showing replays and even capturing the hornaday / busch fight. not sure what a producer of a race does, but I did hear krista voda mention something about their producer was home expecting a child. would that have something to do with the guys being off a littlemidwest race fan